BACK TO THE LINCOLNSHIRE LYC OPENING PAGE and CONTENTS   PREVIOUS ANGLIA LYC PAGES   MAP OF BASSINGBORNE       MmmMINIS... AT ANGLIA! SAT and SUN, JULY 7 and 8, 2001   Report from Andy Parr   Mmmmminis... The Anglia Summer Event on 7th and 8th July was billed as being a Fed 5 event, with the added attraction of organised racing for the new miniyachts. As this was the first event ever in the United Kingdom where Minis were actively welcomed, it seemed a suitable occasion to launch our Welsh mini, "The Potty!" - the M-type Landsailer by MAD Designs (Mark Lloyd, Andy Parr and Dave Shaw, all based at the Cefn Sidan Sandyacht Club), and Lordy, was it ever fun! Saturday brought light winds that varied from the barely adequate to not enough, while Sunday saw stronger and generally better winds that were perfect for safe sailing with little if any scope for wheel waving. We started by rigging four Fed 5s for the traditional Team races. The racing was exciting for those who managed to sail right round the circuit, but not so enjoyable for those who had to spend more time pushing. At some point in the proceedings the Minis were let loose and the fun began. The fleet comprised eight minis - two Ludics (one French, one New Zealand), two M-types, one Bootlegger, and three local homebuilds, all of which had plywood seats, with two chassis by Si Holder and one by Ray Thompson. Numerous races were held over varying courses of varying length, and merry chaos with just a hint of anarchy ensued. As all the yachts were treated as communal and the pilots were keen to try all the different yachts, scoring was quickly abandoned. The air was full of laughter - particularly on the tight slalom course involving rows of cones - and it was wonderful to see so many smiling faces. On the Sunday there were remarkably few Fed 5 races as the pilots generally preferred to race the minis and only one race for proper Class 5s. Three Standarts and Christine Heath's new green Class 3 were also seen sailing at various times. A few folk who had expected proper racing were disappointed, but the vast majority thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Somehow Mick Mitchell managed to conjure up some results and prizes for the winning Fed 5 team and, as for the Minis, he simply admitted that he had no idea what had gone on, but hadn't it all been tremendous fun! That seemed to sum up the event quite nicely really. Interestingly, all the miniyachts were inseparable in terms of performance, with only Si Holder's being slower by virtue of having a tiny sail. Otherwise they all went the same! Quite remarkable. There seems to be a specification evolving - 1.5m long, 1.5m wide, max 3.5 sq m sail and 25kg minimum weight - which seems reasonable and would at least keep the ³minis² mini. The Dragonflies and Blokarts would have to be one-design sub-classes - but it's early days given that we've only just had the first sailing of them at an event! Clearly short courses suit the minis better. As the speeds are that much lower, the yachts seem to sail that much closer to each other and there's more scope for shouting at one's fellow competitors to get out of the way, etc. Simple courses round traffic cones seem best, and a slalom course is an excellent idea - if you are looking for complete chaos! As no attempt was made to score the races, no one worried too much about who missed cones on the slalom - particularly as some pilots took great delight in gathering as many as possible around their axles! It will be interesting to see how the racing evolves in the future. Another point of interest to note is that this was a case of existing sandyachters having fun with miniyachts - there were no non-sandyachters in attendance whatsoever, which was a shame as the invitation to attend was extended to one and all, particularly newcomers. So there you have it. The Official Arrival of the Minis on the British racing scene. Merry mayhem, but such fun! Interesting memories... eight of us lined up on the start line enduring a woffly briefing that ended with "...then I'll count down from 10 and shout Go!" Did he say Go? we cried, and off we went! We also had a few attempts at rolling starts - which were hilarious with eight minis milling around getting in each other's way and making silly remarks to each other. The odd pile-up on the slalom ... which we sailed upwind, whereas taking the slalom at speed downwind really got the adrenalin flowing. I nearly said ³blood² but that would be tactless as one of the locals capsized a Fed 5 at speed and landed hard on his elbow on the tarmac and had to be taken away by ambulance as his elbow sustained a nasty dislocation at best. And the chance to sail all those different yachts! All in all, a very different event - and such fun, such a complete change from the serious competitive stuff. Andy Parr [  t o p  ]  MAPS of BASSINGBORNE     [  b a c k   t o   th e   t o p   o f   t h e   p a g e  ] BACK TO THE LINCOLNSHIRE LYC OPENING PAGE and CONTENTS